The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a complaint against Blake Williams of Dallas, Texas, and registered representative Derek Lopez, of Torrance, California, and numerous entities that they controlled, alleging that they committed securities fraud by manipulating the markets of numerous microcap stocks from 2006 to 2008. The Commission alleges that the defendants sold stock in unregistered offerings and that their subsequent manipulation led to artificially high prices and volume, which allowed the defendants and others to sell their holdings for substantial gains. The complaint also alleges that Williams acted as an unregistered broker-dealer when he solicited purchases of stock and traded on behalf of investors who bought stock from him.

The Commission's complaint alleges that Williams, using five entities that he controlled, and Lopez, using the entity Da Big Kahuna, LLC, engaged in a number of manipulative practices, including:

engaging in "bid support" by placing orders for shares at prices below the inside (highest) bid to absorb sell orders and create an artificial floor for the stocks;

trading in multiple accounts through multiple brokers to give the false impression that there was greater demand for the stocks than truly existed;

coordinating trading among a group of individuals for the purpose of maintaining stock prices; and

obtaining securities in unlawful, unregistered offerings and then selling the securities to investors and into the markets in similarly unregistered and unlawful transactions.

The Commission seeks injunctions, penny stock bars, disgorgement, and penalties from the defendants, in addition to an officer and director bar against Williams because he served as an officer of several of the microcap issuers.

As a result of their conduct, Williams and Lopez, in a separate criminal matter, were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and seven counts of securities fraud in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The Commission's investigation is ongoing. The Commission appreciates the cooperation of the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which conducted a separate parallel investigation.